Favorite Gun Writer?

[SharpsDressedMan]

I have to admit that I was nurtured into my gun obsession in the 1960's by the writings of Skeeter Skelton, Bill Jordan, Jeff Cooper, and many others. Skeeter was my favorite, and I own and cherish many of the guns that he was fond of, particularly identifying him with the .44 Special. My dad was not into shooting much, and not into handguns at all, so it was left to me to find my way, and the gun writers filled in the voids. I know there are many of you older guys out there, like me, that grew up on Guns & Ammo, Shooting, Times, etc, but the newer generations are missing out as the paperback magazines go the way of the dinosaur. Tell us about the writers and shooters that influenced you.

 

[9mmepiphany]

For enjoyment of reading, fiction or informational, it was hard to beat Skeeter Skelton.

For writing style and information, I'd have to lean toward Massad Ayoob

 

[CajunBass]

Handguns. Skeeter Skelton.

Everything else. Jack O'Connor.

 

[hogshead]

Jeff Cooper Graig Boddington.

 

[yeti]

Keith, can't forget Elmer.

 

[earlthegoat2]

Ed Lovette

 

[oldways]

Keith
Cooper
Askins
Skelton
Ayoob
Scovil

 

[jhop73]

Elmer Keith
Skeeter Skelton

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

Entertainment: Charles Askins
Straight-up, no nonsense information: Mas Ayoob
Anecdotes and history: Jan Libourel

(Notes: Askins has passed, Libourel is now retired.)

 

[bikerdoc]

Keith
Cooper
Askins
Skelton
Ayoob
Scovil

Right on Oldways.

Of the newer guys I like Clint smith. and Tom Givins

 

[Jim Watson]

A few less prolific writers I really enjoyed in their day were:
Henry Stebbins
Jac Weller
Jan Stevenson

Still seen on the cast bullet board and occasionally here,
C.E. Harris

 

[Trad Archer]

My love is with cowboy guns....

Mike Venturino

 

[Ala Dan]

In NO Particular Order

Ayoob
Skelton
George Nonte
Askins
O'Connor
Keith
Jordan *(Not Michael either~!)

 

[451 Detonics]

My favorites have all been named but my Dad was a world ranked bullseye shooter and he influenced me quite a bit. I also shot a good bit with Ken Tapp, he hammered the cadence for Action Pistol into me. And the Reinholt family in northern Indiana. Both of Jim's sons won the Bianchi Cup as Juniors and Jim had forgotten more gun lore than he remembered. He knew most of those writers as friends and worked with several of them.

My shooting has been influenced by many folks, some well known and some not. Spending time shooting with Ken, Robby Leatham, Mas Ayoob, and others taught me important lessons.

 

[Liberty1776]

Hands down, Elmer Keith. I even had the good luck to correspond with him a little, and among other things, received personally-typed letters from him...(bad spelling, x'd out words and punctuation errors) including an invite to come out to Idaho and visit him, which I unfortunately did not get to do... The letter is my favorite piece of gun memorabilia...

 

[PapaG]

Skeeter Skelton. Gentleman and always responded to letters I wrote. Never talked down to anyone, had been there, done that.
Keith. "Hell, I was there." said it all. A memory unlike anyone before or since.
Capstick. Peter Hathaway. Knew the black continent and the animals better there than anyone else.
Corbett. No one did India better. No one else would hunt tigers with a few shells and no helpers. Or sit in a thorn tree for eight or ten hours as bait.
I enjoyed Askins articles but did not admire him as a human being.....absolutely seemed to me amoral.
Nonte, I knew personally, and he could take a good magazine quality picture with little more than a desk lamp and an instamatic (I exaggerate) but he had a few "isssues" that hindered his effectiveness.
Cooper was more philosopher than gun writer and quite fun to read, especially in his final years.
Ayoob...knows so much..who else would you want on your side in the courtroom as an expert witness.
Jordan. The human counterpart to Askins.
O'Connor. I read that editors ran and hid when he came into the office.
All that said, I think one of the best ever is Jim Carmichael.

 

[Pete D.]

Ross Seyfried
Warren Page
Paul Matthews
Michael McIntosh

 

[earlthegoat2]

Steven Dodd Hughes

 

[PO2Hammer]

Bob Milek.

 

[Kendal Black]

I've gotta put Skeeter Skelton in first place, for being thoughtful, factual and not taking himself (or anybody else) too seriously.

Anybody else heard about the "chicken fried steak" incident?

 

[Arkansas Paul]

I haven't read a lot of books about guns. I've read a lot of articles but paid little attention to the authors. I did read an entire book by Bob Hagel called "The Game Rifle". It's a North American Hunting Club publication and I really enjoyed it. He's very knowledgable and has a no-nonsense attitude that I like. So he gets my vote. I need to look up some of the ones mentioned here and give it em whirl.

 

[Big Bill]

I'm surprised no one mentioned Jim Zumbo yet?

 

[carbuncle]

I like Massad Ayoob a lot, read all of his books when I got seriously into shooting in the 90s and have been reading his magazine and online articles consistently since then. Good information and a very readable writing style.

 

[9mmepiphany]

Ayoob cheats...he is actually a trained professional writer

 

[ZeBool]

Massad Ayoob
Patrick Sweeny
Walt Rauch
Frank James (not Jesse's brother)